The Event (Book 3): Expansion

by Lee Thomas

  Once we finished the last building, we headed back towards the ship. The sun had full set at this point, and the half-moon that was out tonight did not provide much light to go by. We didn’t want to risk our flashlights yet, but we did move at a quick pace down the middle of the road. One of the other teams was also approaching the gate as we were, and as we closed the gate behind us, one of the men had found a chain and a bent piece of rebar to use as a lock. With the gate secure, sort of, we made our way back to the ship in the darkness, still listening for any sign of approaching infected, even though we had cleared the entire pier area. Some habits were hard to break, especially when your life may depend on them. As we came out into the open between the buildings and the ship, we could see that the elevator was already down, which meant either we could be seen from a pretty good distance, which was good, or it was left down after the last group before us came back aboard, which was maybe not so good. We climbed the stairs and saw that all the other teams were back onboard and gathered together in the small staging area we had set up near the elevator.

  “Anything of note today?” I asked as we approached the group.

  “No, but we did manage to get the entire grid searched. Some camping gear had been left behind, but it doesn’t look like anyone has been around this area for quite a while.” Peter informed me. After chatting for a few more minutes, I headed up to my cabin to get some rest, and the others started moving off as well. All in all, it was a good day, we set sail on time, had a little fun in the open water, and completed the first day’s grid with no problems. My hope was that the coming months of work went as smoothly, but realistically I knew something was going to happen, it was only a matter of when and what exactly. I placed all my gear on the couch and then headed for the bed.

  Chapter 6

  Sept. 22nd, 2020

  The next day I got up, got ready, and headed down to the hangar bay to meet the teams again. Since I was with Gary’s team yesterday, I decided to run with Steven’s team today. As I entered the hangar bay, the door was already open and the elevator lowered, letting a nice morning sea breeze flow through the bay. It looked like about half of the search crew was here already, checking each other’s gear over and joking around with each other, showing a good level of trust and comradeship that was needed to succeed at this mission. I greeted them as I walked up to them and Terry checked over my gear, just like everyone else. Getting a nod in approval, I made small talk with all of them as we waited for everyone to show up. Once everyone was gathered, final checks were made, the team leaders gave final instructions and passed out updated maps of the areas we would be searching today. Once everything was ready, we filed out and headed off to our respective grids.

  Each team had roughly eight square blocks to search, and would continue into the next days’ area if they had time. It took about an hour to reach our first grid today, and we split into two groups to tackle two blocks at the same time, and we kept one watcher in the street at all times. The day passed uneventfully, except a family of raccoons that had taken up residence in one of the convenience stores we searched, spooking the two men who entered that room. The rest of us got a laugh out of it, and it did relieve some of the tension we were feeling. We finished that building and continued our search, poking fun at the raccoon crew along the way. As neared the last couple of buildings in our grid for the day, we realized we had plenty of daylight left to get maybe another block done, and once we finished, Steven decided to go ahead and continue.

  The next block held no new surprises either, but there was a bank that was mostly intact that could be converted into a safe house with little effort. There were only a few large windows, and it had double doors that could be easily secured for safety. We marked it on the map and finished clearing the block. Checking the time, there wasn’t a lot of daylight left, and the next block started some residential areas, so we decided to leave it until tomorrow. As we turned to head back, a small pack of tigers slinked out from around a couple of wrecked cars. Two large, adult tigers were followed by three smaller ones, presumably their cubs. We all stopped and drew our weapons, forming together and watching them. The larger one turned to look at us and growled a warning, while the other and the cubs continued walking past and down the street. None of us moved until the last tail was out of sight, and even then, we continued forward with extreme caution. David radioed the other groups to give them some heads up of what was prowling around here. It would not do to have one of the teams taken out by hungry predators.

  “Let’s go, quickly, but keep sharp.” Steven said softly. We spread out a little more and continued at a quick walk down the street, all of us glancing at the tigers sauntering down the street about a block away now. Moving as quickly as we could without running, we made our way back to the gate without further incidents. After clearing the gate and shutting it behind us, I decided to stay on top of the nearest building, which had a flat roof, and wait for the other teams since the ship had reported only one other team had returned so far. One man offered to stay with me and the others headed back towards the ship. We made our way to the roof and found a good position to see the gate and a fair way down the street. The height allowed us to watch for the tigers to come back, or any other large predators for that matter, which was something I had not taken into consideration before. It never occurred to me to account for the animals released from the zoos. I made a mental note to go over that fact with the team leaders later to see how that affected our plans.

  “Here comes someone.” Tim said, tapping me on the shoulder and pointing. I turned to look and saw one of our teams jogging down the street. It was Gary’s team, and we watched them as they approached the gate. Nobody seemed hurt and we waved as they cleared the gate to get their attention, pointing to them and then towards the ship so they knew I wanted them to go ahead and head back. Getting an affirmative reaction from them, Tim and I went back to watching the street. There were still three teams out, and I would not rest easy until either they returned or radioed that they were holed up safely for the night, especially since the three teams still out were Roger’s, Tony’s, and Christian’s.

  “The sun is essentially down now, how much longer do you want to wait?” Tim asked as he looked out over the street.

  “Radio the ship, find out if they have heard from the others yet. If they have, and they are holed up safe somewhere, we will head back.” I replied. I was getting worried that they weren’t back yet, as I had made it very clear that I wanted everyone back to the ship by dark for safety. I had to trust that they wouldn’t take unnecessary risks, but I still worried.

  “According to the bridge, Tony and Roger have both reported in and say they will be back within the hour. No word yet from Christian’s team.” Tim reported. I just nodded and continued looking out over the street. With no moon or star light it was difficult to see very far, but I strained my eyes for any sign of our men. All we could hear was the occasional hoot of an owl, barks from the packs of dogs we had seen roaming, and the small breeze brushing against the leaves of the nearby trees. Finally, the faint sound of footsteps reached our ears, followed shortly by the low sound of someone gently sliding metal on metal. We could make out several men at the gate, and as they entered and closed the gate behind them we could tell for sure that it was Roger’s team. Watching them pass, Tim tapped my shoulder again and pointed towards the gate. At first I didn’t see what he was pointing at, but then I saw the shadow, low and large, slink past a small pool of light. It didn’t look like the tigers from earlier, but there were other large cats it could have been, and something like a bear didn’t move like that.

  “Get down there and warn Roger’s team, now. I’ll keep watch and shout if it makes it inside. Leave your radio.” I told Tim, raising my rifle to my shoulder to try to get a bead on whatever it was. I heard him softly close the roof hatch as he went down the ladder, and I was then alone. I hoped that whatever it was didn’t find a way over the fence, or through, but any of the l
arge cats could easily jump this height of fence, especially with the trees that lined the outside of it. I noticed then that the owls we heard earlier had gone silent. Whatever was out there was deadly enough that other animals knew enough to shut their mouths when it was around, which meant it was definitely a predator of some kind. Knowing that Tony’s team would be shortly be approaching the gate, I had to try to warn them. Turning the radio to the channel the teams had agreed to be on, I keyed the mic and spoke slowly and softly so my voice wouldn’t carry. After repeating myself several times, I finally got a response.

  “This is Frank, who is this?” came a quiet voice. I recognized him from Tony’s team, so still no contact from Christian’s team.

  “It’s Sheldon, I need to know where you are at, right now.” I replied, still watching for the shadow again.

  “Two blocks north and three west from the gate.” A new voice reported, one I didn’t yet recognize.

  “I am on a rooftop near the gate, on the pier side. There is a large shadow moving just west of the gate. I couldn’t see what exactly it was, but a small group of tigers was seen in the area earlier today, and there is a zoo not too many miles from here, so it could be several things. Keep a sharp eye out, and get back here asap.” I told them. I hoped that whatever it was hadn’t noticed them yet and they could get inside the gate before it did. I continued scanning the fence line for movement, but couldn’t see anything; whether that was good or not was yet to be determined. After another ten minutes or so I saw several smaller shadows moving around, and they quickly turned into Tony’s men. They approached the gate in formation, a man facing every direction with weapons raised. Once they were in, I quickly flashed my flashlight at them, which they did in return. I gathered the radio and my rifle and headed towards the roof hatch.

  As I exited the door, Tony’s team was there waiting for me. I waved and all started walking at a quick pace towards the ship. His men continued to watch in all directions, but nobody saw or heard anything the whole way. As we neared the stairs however, several armed men were waiting on the elevator with weapons raised, pointing out towards the pier.

  “Sir, we heard the report about the large animal, and the aft watch reported seeing something moving between buildings. Infrared didn’t pick anything up, but if it whatever it was happened to be behind a building it would be hidden anyways. Christian’s team was contacted finally, and they found a secure building to stay in for the night. They are safe and accounted for. Chief Smith said to get you onboard and close up as quickly as possible.” Casey reported as we stepped onto the elevator. I wasn’t very familiar with him yet, but he seemed like he was very competent, and he was obviously very focused. He only glanced at me as he informed us of that, his priority apparently being the safety of the ship, which was exactly the thing I wanted to see.

  “Tony, get your men settled for the night, and meet in ready five. Casey, you too. Once the elevator is raised, I want you there too.” I ordered as we walked past Casey’s group. I clapped Tony on the shoulder and started jogging off towards the stairwell. My first stop was the bridge to get an update on how things were going, and send some messages to home. Jeff needed to know that we had large predators roaming around so the base could make precautions as well. As I walked into the bridge, Chief Brandon was still there, apparently not wanting to leave just yet.

  “Sheldon, good, you’re back onboard. Except for Christian and his team, everyone is now onboard and accounted for, and Christian reported they found a secure building, so they are safe for the night.” Chief reported to me.

  “Good. Go get some sleep Chief, you were up here when I left this morning. I appreciate the loyalty and determination, but don’t burn yourself out doing it.” I answered, clapping him on the shoulder to make it not sound so much like an order.

  “Yes, sir.” He said with a smile and a chuckle. He headed out, hopefully to get some rest, but I figured he probably wouldn’t. I laughed and let him get away with the ‘sir’ comment. I left the message I wanted to send with the radioman, knowing it would get sent, also leaving orders to only come get me if Jeff needed a response from me tonight; otherwise I would deal with it tomorrow. I radioed Christian to hear for myself that they were fine, and they told me they found a bank branch to hole up in. The doors were glass, but they used some tables and chairs to block them off, and the only other window was in the drive-thru area which was more than likely shatter resistant, plus it was too high for any infected to climb through. Setting my mind at ease with that info, I told Christian we would bring them some food supplies in the morning, let him know about the tigers and possible other predators, and signed off. I then headed down towards Ready Five and waited for the others to show up. It was only about another ten minutes before Tony and the others finally all arrived, and they all took seats while I stood at the podium.

  “Alright, here’s the deal. I was with Steven’s team today, and after we arrived back at the pier, we were told that Peter’s team was already back, and Gary, your team was right behind us. I waited, along with Tim, on the roof of that first building to wait on everyone else to arrive. After Gary arrived, Tim and I continued to watch for the rest of you. What we saw however, was a large shadow moving along the fence. I don’t know if it was one of the tigers, but with the number of zoos within a days’ drive of here, there are plenty of large predators it could have been. I didn’t think about that possibility during the planning stages here, so I want to know how that affects our plans?” I got straight to the point since we had all been out all day, and were no doubt tired. Since we planned on getting started again first thing tomorrow as well, I wanted to keep this brief so we could all get some rest.

  “Since we are on high alert for the infected anyways, I don’t think this changes anything, other than we may need to use the guns more than we wanted.” Peter replied. The others just nodded their heads in agreement.

  “Alright, good. I would hate to have planned it all out this much, and then start losing people to animal attacks that no one thought to plan for. Let’s get a good night’s sleep and hit it again tomorrow.” I said, dismissing them to whatever hobby they used to unwind from the day and hopefully to get some rest. I headed out to my cabin to write a little in my journal and then get some sleep myself.

  Entering my cabin, I dropped my weapons on the couch, as well as my armor, vest, and helmet. A quick shower to help me relax and I headed to bed, grabbing my journal and writing some before finally putting it away and turning off the light. Tomorrow was another day in a long line of hard work once again.

  Sept. 23rd, 2020

  I awoke groggy, not feeling like I slept much, and reached over to slap off the alarm. I had instructed the teams to not wait on me, so if I was late, they would continue without me. Knowing that, I was tempted to turn it off and roll back over for some more sleep, but that wouldn’t be a good leadership quality, skating out of work like that. With a groan, I rolled out of bed, sitting up on the edge and rubbing my throbbing knee. I knew it would end up being a liability at some point during this, so I was thinking about only going out every other day or so, so it didn’t slow me down and put the others at risk. I would broach that subject later with the team leads to get their opinion.

  After my morning ritual, I walked over to the couch and started getting dressed, securing all the snaps and buckles to make sure everything was where it was supposed to be, and checked my weapons belts as well. Happy with the results, I grabbed my helmet and headed up to the bridge. Stepping in, I was greeted by the four sailors standing watch, apparently already the day crew as they looked refreshed and not tired. They were all in relaxed uniforms, which I was finally getting them all to do, to lessen the military feel of everything. The military mindset was a difficult thing to change, especially in this new world and still being on the ship.

  “Morning Sheldon. Coffee is fresh, ship is secure, and weather is fine. That about cover everything this morning?” one of them asked, pointing to the
coffee pot. Janson was his name, and I had discovered early on that he was quick with his sarcasm, and rarely took anything too seriously, which I appreciated, but he also knew his shit, and was outstanding at standing watch and giving precise, accurate info when needed. A lot of sailors were like that and it helped to keep the tension at a manageable level, but still maintain the level of efficiency to keep the ship functional. I didn’t want to run it like a military command, hadn’t from the start, but sometimes, with some of the men, phrasing things like an order worked better. Laughing, I walked over for a cup of coffee, and just nodded at him.

  “Yes, that about covers it, thank you. I’m assuming you meant that there is no weather reported for the day either, correct?” I asked, stirring some of the dwindling sugar supply into my coffee. We had stockpiled quite a bit to begin with, and scrounged some along the way, but had no means of growing any sugarcane since we didn’t have seeds or a partial plant to plant.

  “Correct. The report from Jackson said that we should be all clear for at least the next week, but would of course update it as needed.” Janson answered.

  “Perfect. I won’t be going out with the teams today, so I’ll be around the ship if you need me.” I told him, and got a nod in return. I took my mug with me and dropped my helmet back off in my cabin, along with my body armor. I left my sword belt on out of habit, and I just generally liked having them with me. I made my way down to the hangar bay to inform Tony and the ground teams I would be staying behind today and dealing with things here so they didn’t waste valuable sunlight waiting on me. I could see the teams already gathered and doing last minute checks near the open bay door, and Tony waved to me as I approached.